Abbas issued a statement Tuesday, marking the 43rd anniversary of
an attempt by deranged Australian Christian Denis Michael Rohan to set fire to
al-Aksa mosque, saying that Jerusalem’s Arab and Islamic identity was a
Palestinian red line.

Highlighting the necessity of the protection of
Jerusalem’s Islamic and Christian holy sites, Abbas said “the fire, set by a
criminal under the eyes of the Israeli Occupation Authorities, was the first
[attack] in a series aiming to demolish al- Aksa mosque and build the alleged
Temple in order to uproot its citizens, Judaize it and eternalize its
occupation.”

The statement read that all Israeli excavation work in
Jerusalem, and tunnels underneath the mosque, “will not undermine the fact that
the city will forever be Arabic, Islamic and Christian.”

Abbas’ statement
warned against what it called “the dangers surrounding Jerusalem and its al-Aksa
mosque by the Israeli government and municipality which aims to steal more lands
and enact unfair legislations against the Palestinian institutions.”

The
statement concluded “that there will be no peace or stability before our beloved
city and eternal capital is liberated from occupation and
settlement.”

Netanyahu’s spokesman Mark Regev said in response that he
hoped the Palestinian leadership was not denying the Jewish connection to
Jerusalem, which goes back 3,000 years. “Ignoring that connection is to ignore
reality,” he said, and will do nothing to advance peace and reconciliation Regev
said he was “disappointed” to hear the mainstream Palestinian leadership “echo
outrageous conspiracy theories concerning the Temple Mount, conspiracy theories
that are the usual domain of extremist elements.” He added that only under
Israeli control has Jerusalem enjoyed a period of unparalleled growth and
development, under which the religious rights of all, and the holy sites, were
protected.

“This is in stark contrast to the reality before 1967,” Regev
said.

The tone of Abbas’ statement dispelled the notion that a series of
phone calls recently might lead to a slight change in atmosphere.

Barak
phoned Abbas on Tuesday to send well-wishes on the occasion of Id
al-Fitr.

Barak’s call followed a similar call Netanyahu made to Abbas
Saturday night, at the onset of the festival. With no negotiations currently
taking place between Israel and the PA, such calls at the top leadership level
are infrequent.

A statement released by Barak said the two men discussed
the situation in the region and ways to renew the diplomatic process between
Israel and the Palestinians. A source in Abbas’s office in Ramallah confirmed
the conversation took place and that the two talked about the diplomatic
process, but said that it was unlikely the gesture would have any political
results in the near future.

The Jerusalem Post has learned that Molcho
phoned Abbas, as well as Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on
Tuesday, to update them on the health status of the six Palestinians hurt in a
fire bomb attack on a taxi near Bat Ayin on Thursday.

Netanyahu spoke
about the matter with Abbas when he called him Saturday, and his office has on
three different occasions issued statements since then relating to the issue.
The first statement contained Netanyahu’s condemnation, the second was a letter
he wrote to Abbas not only condemning the incident, but also promising all
efforts would be made to apprehend those responsible, and the third was a
statement to the effect that the issue had been brought up again during the
Saturday night phone call.

There are a number of reasons Netanyahu has
reached out so publicly to the Palestinian leadership on this issue, a
government official said. First, he explained, this behavior is abhorrent,
unjustifiable and must be stamped out.

Second, because those responsible
are giving Israel, Zionism and the settlement enterprise a bad name. Third, out
of concern that this violence plays into the hands of the most anti-Israel
narrative and gives “ammunition to Israel’s enemies.” Fourth, because there is
close security coordination between Israel and the PA, and Israel has given a
commitment to stamp out this type of activity.

And finally, out of
concern that Palestinian extremists could use these acts as a trigger for
Palestinian violence.

In a related development, UN Middle East envoy
Robert Serry warned Monday evening that the PA was losing legitimacy in the
absence of any diplomatic process.

Speaking at the closing ceremony of
the international model UN event at the College of Management Academic Studies
in Rishon Lezion, Serry said that the Israeli- Palestinian peace process is not
“all about the money.”

“Some think that a strong Palestinian economy will
be enough to maintain stability in the West Bank, something that is both a
Palestinian and an Israeli interest,” he said.

“Yet economic growth alone
will not assure a sustainable future. This is because the Palestinian Authority
is quickly, in my view, losing its legitimacy in the eye of the public, if it is
not able to bring also the political goal forwards – the creation of a
Palestinian state living side by side with Israel in peace and
security.”

Serry said that recent events in the region have shown that
“no political institution can survive if it rests only on economics and lacks
political legitimacy.”

These sentiments, which Serry has articulated
numerous times in the past, are at odds with some senior officials in Jerusalem,
including Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, who believe that setting a strong
Palestinian economic base can go a long way toward eventually solving the
outstanding problems.

Indeed, at a gathering of European foreign
ministers in December, many of whom share Serry’s view, Liberman said that
propping up the middle class was a key to eventually finding a
solution.

“My suggestion is to bypass highly disputed political issues,
which cannot be resolved in the present,” he said. “Once economic growth is
allowed to take root and enable the formation of a strong middle class, I have
no doubt that the difficult political issues, which seem irresolvable today,
will lend themselves to resolution.”